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Effective September 30, an even
larger team of experienced professionals will serve clients
in Grundy, Kendall, LaSalle, and western Will county areas.
The Morris and Yorkville 1st Farm Credit Services (FCS)
branches will combine with the Ottawa office, creating a
center servicing more than 125 million dollars in loans and
leases.
“Our focus in the Morris,
Yorkville, and Ottawa areas is intensifying with this
change,” said 1st FCS CEO Wayne Gustafson. “The 800 clients
we work with in this area will receive an additional level
of service that we previously were not always able to
provide. The team at the new Ottawa office will be staffed
with agricultural finance and insurance specialists, and
greater efficiencies in product and service delivery will
allow more one-on-one time with clients.”
1st FCS staff has studied the
marketplace in the Grundy, Kendall, LaSalle, and western
Will county area for the past several years. Independent
research and focus groups indicated a need for clients to
have greater access to 1st FCS financial expertise.
“We surveyed a diverse
agricultural clientele including individual farmers and
large commercial producers to determine these
recommendations,” said Terry Hinds, 1st FCS Vice President
of Client Value. “Our clients told us they wanted more
expertise in their local area.”
“A driver in today’s agricultural
landscape is having knowledgeable staff that understands and
provides expertise in the areas of agriculture and finance.
At 1st Farm Credit Services, we have team members dedicated
to serving the distinct needs of our clients – whether it is
full-time or part-time farmers, investors or rural
homeowners,” said Keith Braucht, 1st FCS senior vice
president. “We believe that this delivery will enhance our
ability to attract and retain the best, most qualified
staff. And our greater efficiencies in delivery will enable
our staff to spend more one-on-one time with our clients. It
is our mission to better serve our clients and this new
delivery will be good for our clients and our team members.”
In the past five years, the
Yorkville, Morris and Ottawa locations have experienced a
combined growth of more than 50 percent in loan and lease
volume and 100 percent in crop insurance placements.
Clients in this area of the
association are extremely happy with their level of service.
The annual client satisfaction survey, conducted in the
spring, pointed out that this area is receiving a more than
99% satisfaction rating in service from 1st FCS team
members.
“As we look at the drivers of
change that are revolutionizing the traditional structure of
agriculture, we are striving to understand and then
pro-actively adapt to the changing needs of our clients,”
said Braucht. “These changes, which include advances in
technology, are altering the traditional relationships in
agriculture and changing the way we do business.”
For sometime the focus of client
contact and marketing efforts has been shifting from the
branch office to other forms of interaction. Today, most of
1st FCS business is conducted on-the-farm or over the phone.
Fewer clients choose to visit the office regularly,
especially with the various “business at your convenience”
options – such as on-the-farm, mail, e-mail, phone,
internet, or Credit Line drafts. Clients today can
phone the branch office and have 1st FCS electronically
transfer funds from their bank account to make payments or
transfer funds to their bank account to draw upon their loan
funds.
“Today, we don’t need an office to
maintain a physical presence in the Morris and Yorkville
areas,” said Gustafson. “Our team will provide on-the-farm
service as always. We’ll continue to meet our clients at a
time and place of their convenience.”
Familiar faces will continue to
make up the staff at the Ottawa office. The current Ottawa
professionals stay in place, and Ed Wiesbrook and Karen
Zelko from the Morris and Yorkville offices will join the
team. With a larger staff, clients will notice an enhanced
level of service in the office, with little need for
temporary help or answering machines to answer the phone if
team members are out at a client’s location.
“It is critical that we continue
our commitment to community engagement,” said Hinds. “Karen
and Ed are not moving out of these communities. They are
simply becoming a part of a larger team of talented
professionals serving the same territory. We will continue
to develop and maintain relationships with every successful
farming operation, person, or agribusiness where 1st FCS can
provide benefit to the client.”
1st Farm Credit Services clients
can do business face-to-face, by phone, or through our
“Business @Your Convenience” internet account access and
online banking. The office location is 1689 N. 31st Road and
Route 23 (North of I-80 and Farm and Fleet).
Office hours will be 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Monday through
Friday, phone 800-765-3276. |
